Thank you for your support during the 2010/2011 Legislative Session
Your calls, emails, letters, and any other forms of communication to the Governor’s office in support of our funding this past legislative year made a difference and it was preserved. This was just short of a miracle.
We extend special appreciation to Senator Joe Negron for his support. Over the years he has learned of the merits of our model of care and was very instrumental in communicating to his peers in Tallahassee about the positive results it has made within our local communities. Senator Haridopolos, Representative Matt Hudson and others also listened to our advocates who walked through the halls of the Capitol in February 2011 and we thank them as well. They were so attentive and respectful to the views of our advocates who gave presentations directly from the heart.
Over the past five years our funding from the state’s Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative had been cut by 40%. This crippled our ability to enroll new families within our specialized day service centers. We also could not fill spots when patients in the program exited it (moved away, hospice care, nursing home placements, etc.). For every dollar we receive 87 cents goes directly towards services, hence any government source of funding gets a great bang for the buck. Now, thanks to your efforts, our past funding has been restored and with the additional funds our case managers have reached out to families who are in need. Starting on July 1, 2011 we have identified over 40 families who have loved ones requiring our dementia-specific day care services. In addition to our services, our patients who need additional medical therapies such as speech or occupational therapy can receive them without leaving our day service center. Families do not have to worry about their loved one making a difficult trip to another office when it can all be done at one location.
We have estimated that these funds will allow us to enroll over 110 new families. This will save our families hundreds of thousands of dollars of care (remember there is no health insurance for dementia-specific care). It will save the state over $9,000,000 in nursing home placements.
Again, thank you for being there for our families and for answering our call to action. I invite you to visit one of our day care sites and witness for yourself how much your efforts have benefited our patients.
With deepest appreciation,
Mary M. Barnes
President and CEO